


a love as pure as breath

by lostin_space



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Showers, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:13:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26020111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: After a mission, Joe and Nicky take a shower before bed.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 26
Kudos: 255





	a love as pure as breath

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first attempt at writing them and I have mixed feelings but I hope you like it
> 
> title: i wish i could forget you from passion

Joe never understood how he still felt sore.

After long fights, missions that tired him to the bone, events that caused his body to heal itself, he was always so _sore_. It was unfair, honestly, with the way he healed, he shouldn't have to live with the side effects. Nicky suggested that it might be a psychological effect, but it still seemed unfair.

Tonight, however, Copley had managed to have them put up in a nice hotel, one with nice sheets and a stack of clean towels and two separate bedrooms. It seemed to be an apology for the shitshow of a rescue mission the day has spiraled into. It, sadly, didn't soothe the tension in his shoulders.

Joe went to fall into the bed in one of the rooms, but Nicky caught him by the arm.

"Can we enjoy truly clean sheets for one night?" he asked, an enticing smile on his face. Joe considered just pulling him into bed and distracting him from his question, but it was hard to deny him of such an easy request. It was hard to deny him of any request.

"And then we sleep?" Joe clarified.

"Of course," Nicky confirmed, tugging him out of the room and to the bathroom.

Nicky locked the door, turned the water on, and then double-checked the lock. Joe checked it a third time for good measure. One could never be too sure.

The room slowly filled with steam as they stripped even slower, their bodies aching with each movement. The effort it took to pull his shirt over his head was almost too much. A quick look in the mirror showed their efforts, though, every inch of them covered in a later of sweat or dirt or dried blood or some mixture of them all. He understood the desire for a shower even if he would've loved to just sleep.

"The water heater might be my favorite invention," Nicky said as he stuck his hand beneath the stream. Joe smiled at the sight of him climbing into the shower, naked and pleasured simply by the feeling of hot water on his skin.

"Yes, and you are mine," he responded easily, stepping in after him. Nicky smiled just a little as he turned his face up into the stream. Dirt and dried blood slowly dripping off with the water.

Years, decades, centuries of touching not matter how much grime they had on them had desensitized him to it entirely even as hygiene evolved, so there was nothing stopping him as he stepped up to him to share the water. It was hot and high pressured, washing the top layer of grime off them with ease and letting it go down the drain. Nicky drapes his arms over his shoulders, pulling him in even closer.

"You have that knot again," Nicky said, fingers gently digging between his shoulder blades as he looked into his eyes with unmatched ease. Joe sucked in a slow, deep breath and leaned forward for a kiss. Nicky let him for a few seconds before pulling away. "Let me take care of that."

"Not tonight."

Nicky nodded, still staring at him for a moment. His eyes were intense as always in the most comforting way His fingers dragged up and over his shoulder, leading up until he got to his chin and he held him in place as he moved in for a kiss. Again, it didn't last as long as it could've, but he didn't argue.

Nicky reached out of the curtain for a moment to grab a rag from the rack, pulling it back in and taking his time to lather it in the travel sized soap the hotel had laid out. The process of scrubbing each other and themselves clean took longer than Joe signed up for, but Nicky kept him going with gentle touches every time his head bobbed with fatigue.

By the time they were finished, Nicky's skin was stained a bright red from the heat of the water. Joe couldn't help but press his fingers into his side, watching it turn white and slowly fade back into red. Nicky responded by pushing a towel into his chest and giving him a look that wasn't quite playful, but it wasn't quite stern. So Joe pressed his entire hand to the back of his thigh, pulling him in closer. He couldn't really watch the redness return as he let go, but he could slowly drag his hand up and smile when Nicky tilted his head in bridled amusement.

"What happened to being tired?"

"I am always tired and life is too short to waste time," he said. Nicky huffed a small laugh, grabbing Joe's towel and bringing it to his head to start drying his hair for him.

"Life is too short," Nicky repeated, amusement laced in his tone.

"My time with you will never be enough," Joe promised, grabbing Nicky's towel and wrapping it around his waist for him.

Drying off took even longer, it seemed, more kisses and touches being shared than had been allowed in the shower. Nicky had grabbed ahold of his jaw again and backed him into the door, a chill striking through him at the coldness of it. But Nicky was warm to the touch, his skin hot and his tongue hotter. The idea of his obsession with this man being reborn again after so long was almost hysterical, but it felt more than true.

It seemed to last until they'd dried without much of a need for those fresh towels.

"Yusef," Nicky said as he brought things to a stop, his body still pressed close as he slipped into Italian, "You deserve a good night's sleep."

"So do you," Joe insisted right back. Nicky smiled that sweet, rare smile of his.

"Then let's go to sleep."

One day, maybe, they'd get the option to have a nice nights sleep every night without worry. One day, they might have a permanent home, far from where someone might notice they hadn't aged. One day, they might have more possessions than what they could fit in a backpack. One day, one day, one day.

Tonight, however, they wore the same boxers and t-shirts they always had and climbed into a temporary bed. Nicky's hair was still wet as Joe laid behind him, a gun tucked beneath the pillow for easy access. But Joe put his arms around him and tugged him close, remembering how to breathe again when he could feel his heart beating in his chest.

"Sleep," Nicky said softly, "I'll see you when you wake up."

"I'll see you in my dreams first," Joe corrected, kissing his neck just once and feeling him relax at the promise.

"You're incorrigible."

Joe fell asleep easily to the sound of fondness in Nicky's voice.

**Author's Note:**

> also on my tumblr: spaceskam


End file.
